10 Surprising Facts About Cats

Cats have been with people for 10,000 years: Archeologists recently found a neolithic burial site in Cyprus which had a domestic cat buried alongside human remains. This finding adds an additional 4,000 years to the previously oldest record of cats as pets in ancient Egypt.

Cats mimic human frequencies: Over generations, cats have developed a meow in the same frequencies as human baby cries so people are wired to respond and have a hard time ignoring them.

Cats are as trainable as dogs: Dogs are naturally more eager to please and easy to motivate with food. Cats can be trained to do lots! They're just more motivated by social rewards than by edible treats. Given the choice, cats typically go for pets from their owner over treats.

Cats know their name: Numerous tests have shown that pet cats understand their unique name when called by their owner and respond to them in a different way than other words.

Cats take cues from humans: Cat owners can influence the feeling and behavior of cats. Exhibiting fear, confidence, interest and more can all be felt and mimicked by their cats.

Cats get destressed by being pet by their owner: Though many humans find petting cats relaxing, cats also get the stress relieving benefits from cuddling with their owners as well. Known as allorubbing, cats rub themselves against their owners to calm themselves.

Cats use their whiskers as rulers: The average cat's whiskers on their face inform them about how wide the widest part of their body is so they know which tight openings they will fit through. They also have whiskers over their eyes and behind their paws.

Cats have an automatic righting system: The inner ear of cats is more highly fine tuned than most other mammals and ensures the cat knows its orientation in space at all times. This is why cats always land on their feet and can make daring jumps.

Cats can jump 5-6 times their height: This would be the equivalent of a human jumping over a giraffe. In one bound cats powerful leg muscles combined with ultra flexible and energy producing spines can propel them beyond the distance most mammals can jump.

Cats tails can tell their mood: Tail pointed up means calm and happy, tail curved with hairs standing indicates fear, tip twitching shows intrigue, tucking is trying to show submission, tail thrashing shows annoyance.